Fifa had raised concerns over warm-up matches before the World Cup in South Africa.
Photograph: Alexander Joe/AFP/Getty Images

Three former officials of the South African Football Association have been banned from the sport in connection with international friendlies played by the national side in 2010, the world governing body Fifa said.

Leslie Sedibe, a former SAFA chief executive, was banned for five years and fined 20,000 Swiss francs (£14,000) by Fifa’s ethics committee. Steve Goddard and Adeel Carelse, both former heads of the SAFA’s refereeing department, were each banned for two years.

The cases were linked to that of the former SAFA executive member and head of referees Lindile Kika, who was banned for six years by Fifa last October.

The investigations were conducted by Fifa’s ethics committee along with the security division, which is responsible for fighting match-fixing.

A previous Fifa investigation had looked into warm-up matches that South Africa played against Thailand, Bulgaria, Colombia and Guatemala in May 2010 ahead of the World Cup, which South Africa was hosting.